Man airlifted by helicopter from Carrick-a-Rede

The CG rescue helicopter R199 from Prestwick, with coastguard teams from Coleraine and Ballycastle, were involved

An elderly man has been airlifted from Carrick-a-Rede island near the famous rope bridge in County Antrim by a coastguard search and rescue helicopter crew from Scotland.

The man, who is in his 80s, had crossed the rope bridge onto the island, slipped and broke his ankle.

He was unable to make it back across the bridge on Thursday.

The CG rescue helicopter R199 from Prestwick, alongside coastguard teams from Coleraine and Ballycastle, were tasked to assist in the evacuation.

The landing site for the helicopter was secured by additional coastguard crews

Coastguard crews in the north coast were also called out this week, after a boy broke his leg on the Giant's Causeway rocks.

Due to the location of the injured man on the cliff edged island, coastguard teams decided the safest way to evacuate him was via helicopter.

Carrick-a-Rede is best known for its famous rope bridge that links the island with the mainland

Coleraine Coastguard said the helicopter touched down on the precarious cliff top and a rope rescue stretcher was used to transport him to a nearby car park.

The man was then taken to hospital by ambulance.

Station officer for Coleraine coastguard rescue team Alistair Simpson said they would work regularly with the crew from Scotland and have procedures in place with the National Trust for incidents on Carrick-a-Rede island.

"It is quite treacherous terrain there on the island so we requested a rescue helicopter from Prestwick to the lift the casualty from the island," he said.

He said one crew gave the man first aid before putting him into a rescue stretcher and taking him to the helicopter which had landed on the island.

The second team set up a landing site for the helicopter at the Larrybane car park where an ambulance was on hand."

'We have been extremely busy'

Mr Simpson said there had been an increase in the number of call-outs on the north coast in the summer months.

"We at Coleraine Coastguard have attended eight call-outs over the last seven days, including three incidents in the one day," he said.

"Our team is all volunteers who all give up their time and we have been extremely busy and we've really noticed the volume of people, many of them tourists, visiting the north coast has surged, especially around the tourists sites like the Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede."